Biobased plastics are fully or partially made from biological resources but are not necessarily biodegradable or compostable. Poly (lactic acid) (PLA), one of the most diffused bioplastics, is compostable in industrial environments, but improving degradation in home composting conditions, in soil and in seawater could be beneficial for improving its end of life and general degradability. Blends obtained by the extrusion of PLA with different amounts of poly (butylene succinate-co-adipate) (PBSA) or poly (caprolactone) (PCL) were characterized in terms of their home composting, soil, marine and freshwater biodegradation. The blending strategy was found to be successful in improving the home compostability and soil compostability of PLA. Thanks to the correlations with morphological characterization as determined by electron microscopy, it was possible to show that attaining an almost co-continuous phase distribution, depending on the composition and melt viscosity of the blend components, can enhance PLA degradation in home composting conditions. Tests in marine and freshwater were also performed, and the obtained results showed that in marine conditions, pure PLA is degradable. A comparison of different tests evidenced that salt dissolved in marine water plays an important role in favoring PLA's degradability.

Biodegradable thermal insulation foams are drawing widespread attention due to the growing environmental pollution and thermal energy waste. Polymer-based foams characterized by flexibility, recyclability, and excellent thermal insulation, hold immense promise for application domains aimed at decreasing thermal energy waste. Poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) has been widely employed in terms of its superior mechanical properties and acknowledged biodegradability. However, owing to the poor foamability and inherent shrinkage of PBAT, it is still challenging to prepare high-performance PBAT foams with excellent thermal insulation. Herein, the biodegradable polycaprolactone (PCL) crystalline particles were introduced into the PBAT matrix. High mechanical strength and recyclable multifunctional PBAT foams were prepared by the physical foaming process. The presence of PCL can improve the crystallization and promote the formation of open-cell structures. Thanks to the heterogeneous nucleation and special open-cell structure, the achieved PBAT/PCL foam shows ultralow density (0.04 g/cm(3)), restricted shrinkage ratio (<5%), enhanced thermal insulation capacity (32.5 mW/mK), and good hydrophobicity (106.0 degrees). More importantly, compared with other degradable polymer foams, PBAT/PCL foam shows superior degradation ability in soil. Our method offers a novel alternative for producing environmentally friendly, recyclable, multifunctional thermal insulation foams, without the worries regarding biodegradability that are linked with nondegradable materials.